Issues: Cost reduction, Environment, Community Development, Well-being, Industry Shifts, Product Stewardship
Stakeholders: Customers, Employees, Communities
Region: North and South America
When a US-based customer suggested that the company replace the fibre core used for coiling aluminum can sheet, the Rolled Products group immediately began analyzing the options. The goal was to develop a recyclable core that was a cost effective, safe and more environmentally friendly alternative.
Aluminum cores, available in Europe thanks to the Alu-core technology developed by our Ohle Works in Germany, were introduced at the Nörf rolling facility in the late 1990s and have proven to be a very successful innovation. A team was organized to assess if the Alu-core® technology could be utilized in the North American production processes. Benefiting from the cooperative input from Ohle and Nörf (Germany), Oswego (New York) and Logan (Kentucky), the team concluded that it was feasible to satisfy North American safety standards with some modifications in equipment design. The Alu-core® solution would deliver on the dual issue of recyclability and cost. Customer acceptance was key as the new cores required changes to their handling procedures once the cores were designated as scrap.
The Oswego and Logan teams modified the Alu-core® technology to eliminate the need to roll down can sheet scrap to the appropriate gauge to make the cores. Now the cores are made directly from the can sheet stock and process scrap, thus saving costs, GHG emissions and other by-products from the primary aluminum smelters and hundreds of tonnes of natural resources. This solution also eliminated the generation of waste cardboard, thus saving on landfill space and time. A dedicated infrastructure was put in place to handle the entire process from materials handling of the starter stock to the final crimping and taping.
Customers were extremely receptive as the aluminum cores could now be compacted and returned with other aluminum scrap, eliminating the need for a special core return arrangement or disposal of the previous fibre cores. In addition, the new cores are approximately 1/3 the weight of the fibre cores, facilitating handling safety and minimizing shipping weight. They also do not absorb humidity, resolving a long-standing product quality issue.
With an initial project development cost of $336,000, the Alu-core technology provides annual savings for Novelis of approximately $500,000 per year, based on current can sheet production estimates. All qualified Oswego and Logan customers are now receiving coils on aluminum cores for can body stock. The same technology was introduced in 2004 at the Pinda rolling complex in Brazil where now all our can body stock customers are receiving coils on aluminum cores. The group is also presently investigating the possibility of extending the technology to other customers (other than can stock). Initial feedback from Industrial Products customers has been very favorable.
The Alu-core project exhibits all the criteria of sustainability. It is typical of the thinking throughout Novelis as to how the sharing of best practices and cooperative customer engagement efforts result in innovative solutions when focused simultaneously on economic, environmental, employee and community issues.
